4 ms·

Libraries of Things are a thing now. The items that are most useful are those that lend things that you use from once a year to every couple of years. My local

by xattt 4mo ago

Libraries of Things are a thing now. The items that are most useful are those that lend things that you use from once a year to every couple of years. My local library (PEI Library Service) has a telescope, radon detector, a basic (and I mean basic) toolkit, some gardening tools among other things. The collection has a couple of surprises, but mostly underwhelming. I did request something more practical, like a bicycle disc brake flushing kit, but this has not happened yet.

bombcar 4mo ago
Auto part stores often will lend both weird and specialized tools, and relatively basic ones, too. Usually the way it works is you "buy" the tool and then "return" it.
- II2II 4mo ago
  While I understand some people think this is clever, all it does is increase costs for businesses which ends up increasing costs for honest consumers. Worse yet: it tends to increase the cost for local businesses, or at least businesses employing local people, so it's giving the finger to your neighbours rather than to the man.
  - blendergeek 4mo ago
    Many autoparts store have a formal tool lending program that is structured as buy/return. I know it sounds like @bombcar is suggesting some “lifehack” that is closer to stealing. But, no, this is an actual service provided by actual auto parts stores. https://www.autozone.com/lp/loan-a-tool https://www.autozone.com/lp/loan-a-tool
    - II2II 4mo ago
      If it is a formal policy of the store, then it's a different story. They could also manage it in a way to minimize costs. That said, I have run into people who are proud of "discovering" the lifehack version.
    - Linosaurus 4mo ago
      Ok, so they don’t call it a ’buy’ program. It’s a lending program, for free. With a deposit for full value so it becomes a purchase if you don’t return it in time. Same structure but the phrasing matters. Cool idea.
      - asveikau 4mo ago
        From the website it seems like they're expecting that some people will do this with the intention of renting, but then decide to keep or not get around to the return process.
        bombcar 4mo ago
        The tools are almost always something they sell normally, and it keeps their accounting clean. You'd be a silly goose to rent it and then never return it, however, as the rental tools have been used to heck and back.
  - bluGill 4mo ago
    They make money on the parts you buy. the tools are a loss leader
lostlogin 4mo ago
> a bicycle disc brake flushing kit With the right gear, the job is still horrible. SRAM brakes give me an unlimited number of maintenance chores.
- OliverGuy 4mo ago
  To be fair SRAM are particularly a pain to bleed. Shimano, Magura etc are much easier
  - mauvehaus 4mo ago
    Yeah, the SRAM ones require two syringes and seven hands to bleed. And DOT fluid is great at removing paint if you spill it. I haven't done any Magura ones, but the Shimano ones were clearly engineered to be maintained by someone who isn't an octopus. I recently learned that if you live in a place where Citroën LHM is readily available, it's a less-expensive and compatible substitute for Shimano mineral oil brake fluid. Conversely, if you're in a place where LHM isn't available for love or money, you can substitute Shimano mineral brake oil instead of going on a wild goose chase of the Citroën product.
    - jaapz 4mo ago
      Wow wait, I basically live in bicycle land (the netherlands), but I've never heard of fluid breaks for bicycles. All I've ever seen are cable breaks. Fluid breaks on motorcycles, sure, but I'm pretty surprised they are used on regular cycles as well!
      - mauvehaus 4mo ago
        They came on to the downhill MTB market 25-30 years ago now, spread into XC and from there into road and gravel. Sadly, they've now made their way down to the mid-low end of the hybrid/city/comfort market as well. Low-end hydraulic disc brakes are a huge downgrade from cable-actuated brakes. The components range from OK to outright crap and the labor to screw around with them easily adds up to a significant fraction of the cost of the bicycle. What would've been a 15-30 minute cable and housing job can easily turn into a 60-120 minute hose and bleed job. Assuming you have the parts on hand to terminate the hose on both ends, that is. In 10 years, there will be an absolute glut of bicycles that are basically fixable except for their totally unsupported hydraulic brakes. The braking performance ranges from better than the equivalent price-point rim brakes to absolute crap. I hadn't ridden my mountain bike for a while, and was pleasantly surprised to realize that the 20 year-old Avid BB-7 cable-actuated discs on it compare favorably to most of the hydraulic systems on the market.
mauvehaus 4mo ago
I can hardly think of a worse thing than a bleed kit to lend out from a library. They're full of small parts to lose, and they'll never be clean once you use them. And you don't want people mixing up the DOT and mineral oil bleed kits. I have worked in a bike shop as a mechanic, and we periodically ended up misplacing the various adapters. This is in a place where everybody using the kit is getting paid to do the job and has been trained. The librarians would go nuts just replacing O-rings and adapters that people had lost. If you need one for your specific bike, you're probably as well off just buying the one you need from e.g. bleedzone.com [0]. Most of them are around or under $25, and if it's your kit, you always know who the last idiot to use it was :-) [0] I haven't bought from them, but probably will when I need one. The shop I worked in has sadly closed.

by xattt 4mo ago

bombcar 4mo ago

Auto part stores often will lend both weird and specialized tools, and relatively basic ones, too. Usually the way it works is you "buy" the tool and then "return" it.

II2II 4mo ago
While I understand some people think this is clever, all it does is increase costs for businesses which ends up increasing costs for honest consumers. Worse yet: it tends to increase the cost for local businesses, or at least businesses employing local people, so it's giving the finger to your neighbours rather than to the man.
- blendergeek 4mo ago
  Many autoparts store have a formal tool lending program that is structured as buy/return. I know it sounds like @bombcar is suggesting some “lifehack” that is closer to stealing. But, no, this is an actual service provided by actual auto parts stores. https://www.autozone.com/lp/loan-a-tool https://www.autozone.com/lp/loan-a-tool
  - II2II 4mo ago
    If it is a formal policy of the store, then it's a different story. They could also manage it in a way to minimize costs. That said, I have run into people who are proud of "discovering" the lifehack version.
  - Linosaurus 4mo ago
    Ok, so they don’t call it a ’buy’ program. It’s a lending program, for free. With a deposit for full value so it becomes a purchase if you don’t return it in time. Same structure but the phrasing matters. Cool idea.
    - asveikau 4mo ago
      From the website it seems like they're expecting that some people will do this with the intention of renting, but then decide to keep or not get around to the return process.
      - bombcar 4mo ago
        The tools are almost always something they sell normally, and it keeps their accounting clean. You'd be a silly goose to rent it and then never return it, however, as the rental tools have been used to heck and back.
- bluGill 4mo ago
  They make money on the parts you buy. the tools are a loss leader

lostlogin 4mo ago

> a bicycle disc brake flushing kit With the right gear, the job is still horrible. SRAM brakes give me an unlimited number of maintenance chores.

OliverGuy 4mo ago
To be fair SRAM are particularly a pain to bleed. Shimano, Magura etc are much easier
- mauvehaus 4mo ago
  Yeah, the SRAM ones require two syringes and seven hands to bleed. And DOT fluid is great at removing paint if you spill it. I haven't done any Magura ones, but the Shimano ones were clearly engineered to be maintained by someone who isn't an octopus. I recently learned that if you live in a place where Citroën LHM is readily available, it's a less-expensive and compatible substitute for Shimano mineral oil brake fluid. Conversely, if you're in a place where LHM isn't available for love or money, you can substitute Shimano mineral brake oil instead of going on a wild goose chase of the Citroën product.
  - jaapz 4mo ago
    Wow wait, I basically live in bicycle land (the netherlands), but I've never heard of fluid breaks for bicycles. All I've ever seen are cable breaks. Fluid breaks on motorcycles, sure, but I'm pretty surprised they are used on regular cycles as well!
    - mauvehaus 4mo ago
      They came on to the downhill MTB market 25-30 years ago now, spread into XC and from there into road and gravel. Sadly, they've now made their way down to the mid-low end of the hybrid/city/comfort market as well. Low-end hydraulic disc brakes are a huge downgrade from cable-actuated brakes. The components range from OK to outright crap and the labor to screw around with them easily adds up to a significant fraction of the cost of the bicycle. What would've been a 15-30 minute cable and housing job can easily turn into a 60-120 minute hose and bleed job. Assuming you have the parts on hand to terminate the hose on both ends, that is. In 10 years, there will be an absolute glut of bicycles that are basically fixable except for their totally unsupported hydraulic brakes. The braking performance ranges from better than the equivalent price-point rim brakes to absolute crap. I hadn't ridden my mountain bike for a while, and was pleasantly surprised to realize that the 20 year-old Avid BB-7 cable-actuated discs on it compare favorably to most of the hydraulic systems on the market.

mauvehaus 4mo ago

I can hardly think of a worse thing than a bleed kit to lend out from a library. They're full of small parts to lose, and they'll never be clean once you use them. And you don't want people mixing up the DOT and mineral oil bleed kits. I have worked in a bike shop as a mechanic, and we periodically ended up misplacing the various adapters. This is in a place where everybody using the kit is getting paid to do the job and has been trained. The librarians would go nuts just replacing O-rings and adapters that people had lost. If you need one for your specific bike, you're probably as well off just buying the one you need from e.g. bleedzone.com [0]. Most of them are around or under $25, and if it's your kit, you always know who the last idiot to use it was :-) [0] I haven't bought from them, but probably will when I need one. The shop I worked in has sadly closed.